It was a farm holiday in Wales that persuaded Vicki Gilmore from Edinburgh that it might be a good idea to keep her own hens. She bought three, named them Maisie, Milly, and Molly, and set up a coop in her garden.

"We have never regretted it," says Gilmore. "Fresh eggs every day and the most entertaining pets you could wish for. They each have their own wee personalities and are very easy to get attached to. There is no comparison with shop eggs. The white is firmer and doesn't spread all over the frying pan, and the yolk is much yellower and they taste far nicer. There is also nothing quite like collecting an egg warm from your hen and eating it five minutes later."

Urban henkeeping has become increasingly popular in recent years, but breeders and suppliers are reporting an "astonishing" rise in the number of UK households buying hens in the last 12 months or so, fuelled in part, they believe, by the economic downturn and growing pressure on family budgets.

Omlet UK, which sells the "eglu", a small plastic chicken coop , has seen a threefold increase in sales of hens and coops in the last year; and the number of rescued battery hens being rehomed has increased from 29,000 in 2007 to more than 60,000 this year.

"We are all flabbergasted at the rate, and it is very much set to continue," said Kirsten Halley, of feed manufacturer Allen and Page. "The growth in the past year in all parts of the industry has been quite astonishing... Over the last two years we have noticed an increase and in the last 12 months particularly there has been a huge jump in everything to do with hens."

Halley says the number of new poultry keepers contacting their advice line has risen by at least a quarter.

"In the last year to 18 months we have had people on the phone every day... I think there are a few factors that have come together. The credit crunch is a driver. The cost per egg of having your own hens is a fraction of what you would pay in the supermarket. And many people remember their grandparents having allotments, the fun of doing that and the social benefits, living off your own produce. In the current climate it is a lot more economical."

Halley, who keeps hens in her back garden, said estimates that there are 500,000 UK households keeping hens will be conservative. The number of hens will run into the millions, she said.

"I live in a terraced street in Cambridge and I have hens on the garden, it is not just people who have farms. People are realising they are exceptionally easy pets to keep, you don't need to walk them, you don't need to do anything, they are really quite exceptional, and you get something back from them."

The average price of a domestic hen is around £12, although they can cost considerably more, and a good one can lay around 300 eggs a year. Francine Raymond, of the Henkeepers Association, said hens were very low maintenance, needing little more than food and shelter and some space to scratch about.

"Henkeeping is one of the few growth areas; that and growing your own veg. People kind of settle down and have a bit of space. Last year vegetable seeds outsold flower seeds, and I think they are very much part and parcel of the same thing."

It is not just purpose-bred birds that British households are taking on. The Battery Hen Welfare Trust said the number of birds they have rehomed in the UK has risen from 29,000 last year to more than 60,000 this year.

Johannes Paul, one of the inventors of the eglu said sales of hens and coops by his company Omlet UK were up threefold on last year. Many of his customers were keeping hens for the first time.

"If there was a typical customer it would be families with young children who have maybe started going to school; who are old enough to go out and check the eggs, but we have students, we have retired people, we have all sorts.

"Probably people are considering a little bit more when they are buying a pet . They're thinking getting something a little bit more value for money, a pet that lays eggs. They are social and friendly to have in the garden. People buy chickens to begin with probably because they are going to get eggs then they find out they are very fun, very friendly animals."

Initially, sales of the eglu coop were split 70% to urban households and 30% to rural homes, but now sales are split evenly. Gerald Murray, a hen breeder and suuplier from north-east Scotland, said it is possible to save up to £50 a year on eggs by keeping your own chickens, but does not think that economic concerns are the main driver.

"You do save a bit, but people are doing it for their welfare and to get children involved . Hens are all individual, they are characters, they are fascinating to watch and to get to know and they bring the garden to life. A hen gives you so much more than an egg."